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Illinois Football: Projected Defensive Depth Chart

By Rees Woodcock

Sep 27, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Illinois Fighting Illni defenders Jarrod Clements (99) and DeJazz Woods (90) signal first down as they wait for the referees
Sep 27, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Illinois Fighting Illni defenders Jarrod Clements (99) and DeJazz Woods (90) signal first down as they wait for the referees /
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Sep 12, 2015; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini defensive back Jaylen Dunlap (28) celebrates his blocked punt which was run back for a touchdown by Illinois Fighting Illini wide receiver Marchie Murdock (16) against the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2015; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini defensive back Jaylen Dunlap (28) celebrates his blocked punt which was run back for a touchdown by Illinois Fighting Illini wide receiver Marchie Murdock (16) against the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports /

CB Jaylen Dunlap

Next: Taylor Barton

One of the two projected starting cornerbacks on the Illinois roster goes to junior Jaylen Dunlap.

Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois Fighting Illini /

Illinois Fighting Illini

I expect some great things out of Dunlap this season.  He is one of the more experienced players in the secondary and that is going to go a long way.

Illinois won the recruiting battle for Dunlap.  He was a 2-star cornerback coming out of Crete, Illinois.

The Illini had to compete with Western Michigan, UAB and Eastern Michigan to get this under the radar talented prospect.

Dunlap did play a lot his freshman season.  He had 26 tackles and 2 pass deflections in the 11 games that he managed to play that year.

Last season Dunlap didn’t see as much action.  He played in 4 games and racked up only 6 tackles.

A majority of the reason Dunlap wasn’t seeing a ton of action last season was because he was still coming off a bad injury from the year before.

Now Dunlap comes into his junior year ready to become a shutdown cornerback.  He has the starting nod right now in my opinion, but there is some heat on him from the second string.

I look for Dunlap to excel past the pressure and become one of the best defensive backs on the team.

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